The Islay Tope Festival was a huge success with over 70 anglers attending the weekend out of Bowmore. 11 tope were tagged and released as well as many that ‘got away!’. Read the full story under anglers yarns for more information.
You can read more about the festival here.

Islay hosts an annual tope fishing event dubbed the “Islay Tope Fishing Festival”. This is an open event for any anglers interested in taking part, please note though that boat space must be sorted out prior to the event, visitors are welcome to bring their own boat too! This event has been a big success in the previous years it has been held,  and, although a relatively new event, does attract a large amount of interest.
This year the festival is over the weekend of the 21st and 22nd of August …

The following press release was sent out yesterday and marks a significant milestone in the development of the SSTP – 1000 fish tagged and counting, and all in less than one year.
This has only been achieved through the terrific support of the 100′s of anglers – especially all those who have qualified for a bronze, silver or gold cap.
The Scottish Sea Angling Conservation Network
Scottish Shark Tagging Programme
“ 1000 sharks tagged in Scottish waters by sea anglers in less than one year. ”
The Scottish Shark Tagging Programme (SSTP) which is …

The U.S.began a full assemsent of the Spurdog (Squalus acanthius) fishery today in line with the Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) certification programme for sustainable and well-managed fisheries.
The fishery, which operates in the United States Exclusive Economic Zone of the Atlantic Ocean, will be assessed by an independent certifier against the MSC standard for sustainable fishing. If successful, products from this fishery will be eligible to bear the blue MSC ecolabel.
This fishery includes the harvest of spiny dogfish in federal waters and the waters of seven states (Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, …

From an FIS post.
A conservation watchdog Monday accused a Brazilian company of illegally fishing 280,000 sharks which were killed to feed Asia’s appetite for sharkfin.
The Environmental Justice Institute, a Brazilian group, lodged a suit against seafood exporter Sigel do Brasil Comercio demanding USD 800 million in environmental damages.
"We think the sharkfins were exported clandestinely, in containers, likely from the ports of Rio Grande do Sul to the Asian market," according to their spokesman.
The company caught the sharks off the northern Brazilian state of Para between March 2009 and May 2010, …

This weekend saw a new record for the time between initial tagging and recapture of a tope – 4 years and 38 days !
The fish, a 36lb male, was caught very near to its original tagging location off Luce Bay by Ian Burrett who after quickly taking the necessary details for the SSTP database, released it again; hopefully we’ll see the fellow again.
This recapture once again indicates that the fish return to the same locations. This in turn shows how dependent the quality of sea angling of this part of …

This post is extracted from a report written by Captain Andy Bridson who put on a charity fishing event for the Not Forgotten Association which provides leisure and recreation for wounded serving and ex-service men and women with disabilities – guys who deserve total respect. Anyone wishing to make a contribution to their cause can do so via this link.
Andy’s report …… The idea in my head was perfect as I looked out of my office over a dreary winter’s afternoon. I’ll wait till the summer and then take a …

Hi,
The purpose of this article is to try and explain why each piece of info requested on the Tagging Card ( available here in pdf ) is important to the Scottish Shark Tagging Programme.
 

Tagger’s name – We reward anglers who have tagged 10, 50 and 100 fish with our bronze, silver and gold baseball hats. A small thank you for the voluntary effort put in, but feedback is that they are appreciated by those who have received them. See the current award winners here.

Tagger’s email – If you record …

Now available here (pdf) – a round up of some of SSACN’s activities to date this year.
The newsletter focuses on two major projects – The Scottish Shark Tagging Programme (SSTP – www.tagsharks.com) and a Scottish Industry Science Partnership (SISP) activity, where SSACN are the industry lead, to develop a standard process for undertaking near-shore stock surveys.
There’s also news of a new tagging event around next Easter; this combined with the Tagthon and Sharkatag provides a terrific foundation for the SSTP
Sharkatag 2010 again showed the tremendous commitment sea anglers have to …

Most tagging schemes offer a small reward to anyone who reports the details of any initial / recapture tagging data. The SSTP has decided to award fishing caps which we hope our volunteers will be proud to wear.
In order to highlight the level of effort we will be awarding caps at three levels; providing data on 10 sharks will earn a bronze logo cap, 50 sharks will receive a silver logo hat and for those who reach the magical 100 – they will receive GOLD.
A list of …